Driving past schools here can sometimes see either all the kids out in the field with machetes cutting the grass (apparently it's bring your own machete), or a whole class being punished. Like this photo. We stopped when we saw this entire class was being punished. The headmistress was involved, and it actually took a lot of convincing to make the teacher stop the punishment. Apparently the class had all laughed at someone, so the entire class was being punished. Finally my colleague succeeded in stopping this punishment, but who knows what happened an hour or so later.
I haven't had much to do with the education system in Ghana, just heard what other people know who are working in it so I don't have a good background, just observations. Corporal punishment is the norm, and when teachers do turn up (mostly they don't), it's highly likely someone that day will get some form of punishment. I think this one is one of the worst. As my driver put it, it'd be better to make them do something useful, or so they learn from it - maybe picking up all the rubbish around the place.
It's hard to watch, and I'm so glad we could intervene. But it was a temporary fix. Apparently there was a survey on children in schools recently, and the children voted to keep corporal punishment in schools. But maybe that was due to fear of repercussions. I have friends who have volunteered as teachers, and the children ask to be punished, they are used to the discipline, or expect it.
Ghana is on target for reaching the Millennium Development Goal #2 of Universal Education, however this has simply meant building plenty of schools. There are no qualified teachers, and the quality of the education is poor. As I have not had much experience with the schools, I have only entered a few, I'll end it there. But Ghana has made me appreciate the education system at home so much, and makes me hope for many more improvements in Ghana.
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